Frigid Polar Vortex Over US, Warm Anomalies Over Arctic

We’re shivering under temperatures about 12 F colder than usual, making the upper midwest feel like January rather than pre-Christmas.
Not that unusual to have snow on the ground at this time, (although we’ve not had it consistently in recent decades), but in recent years we have not had cold snaps long enough for the snow to persist, which it looks like it will for a while.

Not surprisingly, turning to the University of Maine’s Climate Re-Analyzer, we see the paradoxical “warm Arctic, cold continents” configuration, with a cold blob over North America, and warmer than average areas over the Arctic, Siberia, and Greenland.
Many scientists characterize this as a side effect of a warming planet.

Yahoo:

Three rounds of cold Arctic air from a shifting polar vortex are expected to plunge much of the central and eastern U.S. into a cold snap in the coming weeks, meteorologists say. The first wave of the triple whammy of winter weather is happening this week.

“The week will end with some of the coldest air of the season so far, as a front advances from the Midwest into the Northeast and mid-Atlantic,” said Renee Duff, AccuWeather senior meteorologist.

Meteorologists forecast two more blasts of frigid temperatures for millions of people over the next two weeks.

“A displacement of the polar vortex is allowing Arctic air to seep into the central and eastern U.S.,” Duff explained. “A second cold outbreak is in the forecast next week, and a third round of frigid air is likely during the middle of the month.”

Brutally cold temperatures hit portions of the Midwest on Thursday morning, while the northern mid-Atlantic and New England will feel the freeze on Friday morning, according to the National Weather Service.

“The outbreak this week will be the first of probably three such rounds with it,” said AccuWeather’s lead long-range meteorologist, Paul Pastelok. “Another cold blast is likely next week and a third the week after that.”